Northmont identifying students with special needs

ENGLEWOOD — The Northmont City School District is conducting an awareness campaign in accordance with the requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA), the Ohio revised code and the State Board of Education’s rules for the Education of Handicapped Children.

Each public school district, Ohio’s special educational regional centers, and the Ohio Department of Education are working to identify children with disabilities, birth through age 21, who may be in need of special education services.

For children birth to three, a disability means an established condition known to result in delay or a documented developmental delay. For children ages three to five, a disability means that a child has a documented deficit in one or more of the following developmental areas: communication, vision, hearing, motor skills, social/emotional behavioral functioning, self-help skills, or cognitive skills.

For school age students, a disability means that a student has been identified as having one or more of the following conditions: autism, deaf-blindness, hearing impairment including deafness, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and/or visual impairment including blindness.

Once the school district is notified regarding a child who is suspected of having a disability, the child’s parent(s) are contacted and informed of their rights as required by the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA) and arrangements are made with the parents to evaluate the suspected disability.

Questions regarding Child Find should be directed to Student Services at Northmont City Schools at 832-5036.

IDEA-B & Title Funding

All school districts receive Federal funds (IDEA-B Funding) to be used for special education purposes. Additional funding is provided to districts for intervention through Title services. The amount varies from year to year based upon actions taken by the Federal Congress and Ohio Department of Education. Currently Northmont uses this funding for personnel, technology, special education equipment and intervention materials.

In accordance with federal requirements, a meeting for public input is scheduled for May 25 at 4 p.m. at the Northmont Board of Education located at 4001 Old Salem Rd. If you would like additional information or have questions regarding this funding please contact the Student Services Department at Northmont City Schools, 832-5036.